Page 3376 - Week 09 - Thursday, 24 August 2017
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women and children. The stories that we have been hearing through the co-design process have identified a number of complex issues that families are wrangling with as they try to work their way through a system that is not one that supports families well enough. The design of this safety hub will absolutely improve the experiences of women and children.
I talked earlier today about the design and work going towards room4change, which is a very new way of providing support to families here in the ACT. It is designed loosely based on a program in Western Australia. The idea is that the family—the mother and the children—can stay safely in their home and the perpetrator can leave, be at another home and be provided with intensive support to help change their behaviour.
That is a much better circumstance for the women and the children. They are able to stay at home rather than having to leave and then end up in our housing system. That is not a great outcome for anyone. I am really looking forward to seeing how this program goes as it moves forward. I particularly take some pride in the ACT adopting the initiative and trying out some different things to make sure that we can actually make a difference around domestic and family violence in our community.
As I said, the co-design of the family safety hub is being led by the coordinator-general. The design is being directly informed by the experience of people affected by domestic and family violence. It gives priority to people who are most vulnerable. It focuses on early intervention, pre-crisis and non-justice responses to domestic and family violence. It will explore how existing services and government investment can be better integrated. It recognises that those affected by domestic and family violence will receive help through services that they most trust. We need to work out better ways that we can bring those services together to better support people in our community.
I am the first Minister for the Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence in the ACT. I take that role very seriously. I look forward to working within our city, but also with the federal government about how we can better address domestic and family violence as a serious issue within our country.
MR RATTENBURY (Kurrajong—Minister for Climate Change and Sustainability, Minister for Justice, Consumer Affairs and Road Safety, Minister for Corrections and Minister for Mental Health) (4.07): As members know, I have a number of areas of responsibility that fall under this portfolio topic. I will speak briefly on a few of them this afternoon.
In the area of justice, in particular, I would like to talk about the Public Advocate. The budget provides $0.6 million of funding over four years for increased resources for the Public Advocate, who is now also the Children and Young People Commissioner.
The Public Advocate and Children and Young People Commissioner advocates for and supports a range of people, including children, young people and adults, in the ACT community whose condition or situation makes them potentially vulnerable to abuse, exploitation or neglect: people living in the community as well as those in care
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